The CEO's Regret: Darling, Don’t Leave Me novel Chapter 138

Chapter 101: At Home.

Clara

The dinner ends in a calmer way than it began. The words we said were left floating somewhere between us… but they no longer weigh in the same way.

Ethan pours some more wine into my glass.

“Come,” he says after a moment. “I want to show you something.”

I raise an eyebrow, curious, but I follow him. We cross the room and exit through the doors that lead to the garden. The cool night air immediately envelops me, and when my feet step on the grass… Something inside me stops.

I look around, the garden. For a few seconds I just watch, soft lights illuminating the stone

paths.

The plants, the flowers. The little corner where I always used to sit.

“I haven’t set foot in this place in a long time,” he murmured.

My voice comes out softer than I expected.

I walk slowly, Ethan goes next to me.

“It feels strange.”

I stop in front of one of the flower beds, bending my body a little to observe them better.

My fingers gently brush against some petals.

“You have taken very good care of the flowers.”

I look around.

The plants are green, alive. Well maintained.

“You have taken very good care of the plants.”

I looked up at Ethan.

“It feels just as protected.”

I keep walking along the trail, and as I move forward… Memories begin to appear without me calling them. There… That little corner.

Chapter 101: At Home

1 smile barely.

“I sat there for breakfast many mornings.”

I point to a small white iron table that is still in place.

I remember the sound of the cups, the aroma of the coffee. The quiet days.

I walk a few more steps.

“And there…

I pointed to another spot near the rose bush.

“I sat down to read.”

Many afternoons, many.

When I needed silence, when I needed to escape a little from the noise of everything.

My steps become even slower. There is another space that I recognize.

I approach.

“And here-”

I bend down a little to observe the flowers.

“I cut some to decorate the house.”

I take one carefully between my fingers, bring it a little closer to smell it. The aroma is mild.

Familiar, too familiar. I straighten up slowly, look around again.

This garden holds too many versions of me.

The Clara who was happy, the Clara who dreamed. The Clare who still believed that everything was going to last forever.

I exhale slowly, and continue walking through the garden next to Ethan.

We continue walking through the garden, the silence between us is not uncomfortable.

It is… Calm.

Only our footsteps on the stone path and the faint sound of the leaves moving in the night breeze can be heard. My eyes continue to travel every corner, every plant.

Every little space that was once part of my daily routine.

Chapter 101 At Home.

It’s strange how the body’s memory works. I don’t need to think to remember where everything was… I just know, we walked a few more steps. And at some point… almost without realizing it… My hand seeks his.

It’s not something I plan, it’s not something I think. It just happens, my fingers find theirs.

And they intertwine.

A small shiver runs through me as I realize what I’ve just done, I look to the side.

Towards our hands, our fingers intertwined. For a second I think about letting them go.

But I don’t, and neither does he. We don’t say anything.

We continue walking like this, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

We reach one of the benches in the garden, I recognize it immediately and I sit down.

Ethan sits next to me.

I tilt my head up a little, the sky is clear. The stars shine brightly.

For a few seconds I just watch them, the night air is cool, calm. And suddenly… I feel it.

That feeling that I carried hidden somewhere inside me.

I sigh softly.

“I feel like I’m back home.”

My voice is almost a murmur, I look around again. The garden, the house behind us.

This place full of memories.

“This place,” I add quietly, “feels like my real home.”

And in saying it… Something inside my chest settles.

Like a part of me had been waiting to come back here… without knowing it.

When I finish saying it, Ethan doesn’t respond right away. But I feel his hand squeeze mine slightly.

It’s not a strong gesture, it’s gentle. Almost pensive.

I turn my head a little to look at him, he’s also looking at the sky. And after a few seconds he speaks.

Chapter 101 Attorne

“I feel it too.”

His voice is calm, deep.

“I feel like I’m back at home.”

He lowers his gaze for a moment, as if he were choosing the right words.

Then he looks straight ahead again.

“Because these days without you…”

He pauses slightly.

“I felt like a stranger lost in this place.”

My heart flutters, I didn’t expect to hear something like that from him.

For a moment neither of them says anything else. We’re just sitting there.

In silence, with hands clasped, looking at the same sky that we once saw so many nights from this same garden. And for the first time in a long time… I feel like the past and the present are breathing in the same place.

His words remain suspended among us. A stranger lost within this place.

I don’t know why… But something in my chest tightens when I hear him say that.

I turn my face a little to look at him.

Ethan is also looking at me, I don’t know at what point our eyes got caught up in each other like that. We don’t talk, we don’t need to.

The night seems to be silent around us, his hand still intertwined with mine.

And then I feel the other one move.

Ethan slowly raises his free hand, his fingers moving closer to my face. For a second my breathing slows down.

His hand rests gently under my chin, barely lifting it. Enough for me to look directly at him. His gaze drops to my lips for an instant. And before my mind has time to think too much… He leans toward me.

His lips meet mine, the kiss is slow. Warm… There’s no rush, no urgency.

It’s different from the one this afternoon in front of my office, this kiss feels… deeper.

Chapter 101 AFHome.

More aware… My eyes close without me noticing.

Claim

I feel the warmth of his hand still holding my chin as his lips gently move over mine. And for a moment… The world seems to disappear again.

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